


Tempest

by Moonzari



Series: Pearlnet Week 2018 [2]
Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Artistic Liberties, Cotton Candy Garnet, F/F, First Time Gem Fusion, Jealous Pearl, Pearlnetbomb2018, Pearlnetweek2018, War Era
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-18
Updated: 2018-07-18
Packaged: 2019-06-12 14:31:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,119
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15341865
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Moonzari/pseuds/Moonzari
Summary: Who said Sardonyx wasn't also made of love?Takes place during the War Era.





	Tempest

**Author's Note:**

> Ahaha I am a day late. I actually was writing this yesterday but since I'm epileptic, I have been having a lot of seizure activity lately. Anyway, this is for Pearlnet week 2018, day 2. Prompt was "great outdoors/performance", so I kinda drew a little from both, I guess. Enjoy, hopefully.

She's gone. _Again_.

There's always this prickle of jealousy that surges down Pearl's spine whenever she realizes Rose isn't anywhere in sight. They haven't been on Earth long (though long enough, _stars_ knows) and though Pearl was granted her freedom, she still feels some obligation to Rose. Enough to know where she gets herself off to.

Thunder rolls across the blackened sky, and Garnet has to drag a resistant Pearl to a nearby cave for shelter. "Rose will find us," the Fusion says before Pearl even gets a word out of her mouth, and all she gets is a haughty sort of pout in return.

Pearl finds that she spends more time with Garnet now than she does with Rose. The Fusion had kept to herself mostly at first, trying to find a sort of balance. And honestly, Pearl had been too busy fawning after Rose to really even give Garnet the time of day. But then there's times like this, where they don't really have anyone but each other for company.

Without being asked, Garnet builds a fire for them in the cave as the sky seems to open up and rain pours down in sheets. Pearl worries, because Rose is _out there somewhere_ in this awful storm.

"She's not coming back tonight."

At the mouth of the cave, Pearl sits cross-legged and stares out into the storm, like if she waits hard enough that Garnet will be wrong this time. That, and she doesn't really want to look at the Fusion behind her.

There's a long time of quiet. Pearl half expects Garnet to unfuse. Sometimes she does, especially when it's just the two of them and Pearl doesn't always make the best of conversational partners. Like now, where she's staring out angrily into the rain. But she doesn't, and the only sounds around them are the roar of the fire, the hiss of the rain, and the cracks of thunder that echo off the walls of the cave.

"What could she _possibly_ be doing that she isn't going to come back tonight?" Pearl finally snaps as she throws her hands up in the air, still not facing Garnet.

There's no answer at first, which causes Pearl to finally swivel her head around to look back at the other, her three eyes seeming to study the lithe Gem perched at the mouth of the cave. "I think you already know, Pearl."

There's genuine apology written on Garnet's face. It hurts her to see Pearl so loyal to Rose, only for their leader to run off at odd times like this to mingle with humans. Pearls are Gems with strange concepts about their dynamic with others, and Garnet is slowly learning that.

There's a feeling that gnaws at her that she has trouble placing when she sees tears lining Pearl's eyes, despite the clear fury on the Renegade's features. She turns back to the storm, tears falling onto the cave floor in front of her. Then, without a word she stands and bolts out into the pouring rain.

" _PEARL_!!" Garnet bellows, scrambling to her feet to dash out after her comrade.

Night has fallen, and the rain has not let up in the slightest. Brilliant strikes of lightning illuminate the landscape for a brief second, giving Garnet footing through the mud and the fallen trees. No sign of Pearl. She pauses, closes her eyes and lets her future vision tell her where to find the distraught Gem.

Meanwhile, a rather angry Pearl is running aimlessly through the rain, trying to ignore the way she can barely see where she is going. She has no idea where she's even going anyway. She has no idea were Rose even is. No inkling where to even begin to look. Emotions are running high and are coming to a boiling point inside her: anger, jealousy, worthlessness. She feels it all with intensity as the rain lashes at her face.

She's leaping over a log with the grace of a gazelle when she feels someone grab her arm and slam her against a tree trunk. Her whole body hits the solid surface and she winces, before opening her eyes and coming face to face with those eyes she knew so well.

"I _told_ you that Rose would be back in the morning!" Garnet screams at her, like she's trying to drive this point home.

They're both soaked through from the rain, and another bold strike of lightning lights up the sky for a brief moment. Enough for Pearl to see the deep concern written all over Garnet's face. Concern and... something else. Something she cannot place.

Then there's a loud crack, and time seems to speed up and slow down at the same time. " _GARNET_!" Pearl shrieks as her eyes widen, her arms wrapping around the other almost like a reflex, and what happens next seems to be a blur.

The tree that was falling towards them smashes into the ground with ferocity, the sound rivaling a crack of thunder. It's then Pearl realizes that she is much, _much_ taller. She looks down at her four arms and realizes what happened.

She's _fused_ with Garnet.

Panic is the first reaction she has. She's only fused before with Rose, and she was under the impression that it was a very intimate act. This is _awful_. They had to unfuse. _Now_.

 _Calm down_ , Pearl hears, immediately recognizing the voice as Sapphire's. _We need to stay fused and get to shelter. You won't be any use to Rose if you get yourself poofed_.

Pearl finally concedes, and the new fusion finds a new cave to take shelter in. She huddles, a tangle of lanky limbs. There is no longer a struggle on Pearl's end to unfuse, and the new Fusion is content to sit and watch the rain.

"...Sardonyx," she finally says to herself.

A Fusion of three different Gems. Her body is odd. She has to be at _least_ twenty feet tall, four eyes, four arms, and her torso can rotate (which, when she found out she could do it, spun herself around giddily until she was dizzy).

The rain finally peters off and dawn begins to break, and Sardonyx watches the sun rise from the top of a hill. She finds her balance quickly.

However, Pearl breaks the Fusion when she realizes she's getting _too_ comfortable as Sardonyx.

Garnet and Pearl share a look after the break apart, the look in both of their eyes mutual, yet unspoken.

There will be more nights that Rose will leave. More nights to explore that unspoken feeling between them. More time to find their balance together— and apart.

Sardonyx wasn't a fluke. Sardonyx was just the beginning.


End file.
